The New Fifth State of Matter
There are four states of matter, which we know as solid, liquid, gas, and plasma. That was before others are discovered.
But scientist have discovered or created if you will, another state of matter known as supersolid or BEC (Bose-Einstein Condensate
The name supersolid apparently makes you think the new state of matter is solid but in reality, it is not. I would explain.
How it was done?
The making this supersolid should be easy. Oh yeah? If it was easy, I should have been the one to create it and maybe pick a Nobel prize in physics in the process.
The process of creating a super solid involves the use of the Bose-Einstein Condensate (BEC) which comprise of sodium gas.
This BEC is a special type of matter that was predicted in the 1920s by Satyendra Bose and Albert Einstein. However, due to lack of equipment and facilities were unable to create it.
The fifth state of matter was treated as a theoretical possibility.
But in 2001, Wolfgang Ketterie and two other scientists won a Nobel Prize for the discovery of Bose-Einstein Condensate.
Applying lasers to this condensate, they were able to cool the condensate to near absolute zero temperature ( 0 Kelvin or -273.15 degrees Celsius and -459.67 degrees Fahrenheit) as hitting a colder temperature more than zero is not a possibility, at least for now. By now the atoms would move in languid motion.
Wikipedia CCO: A 3D successive snapshots in time in which the atoms condensed from less dense red, yellow and green areas into very dense blue to white areas.
Bose-Einstein Condensation cannot be seen with the naked eye. But the peaks from the computer graphics show the 3D successive shots when all the atoms behaved the same way and condensed into a super atom acting as an entity.
Bose is a state of matter obtained via cooling a gas (sodium) which has a low density ( 1/100th of air density) at very near absolute zero temperature. They then become "super atoms" as they behave like one entity.
As they are cooled, they become frictionless. They are now like a superfluid. This drama is getting interesting, but that is not all. It now acts as a superconductor given that the resistance is zero. Thus the electrons encounter no resistance.
But upon further cooling of the sodium gas, a non-crystalline "solid' was born. Solid in the sense that it was described by scientists as
Supersolidity combines superfluid flow with long-range spatial periodicity of solids, two properties that are often mutually exclusive. Source
That was pretty ingenious. Now we have a "fluid" that is not solid but somewhat in between; somehow gel-like.
Our work thus establishes a system with continuous symmetry-breaking properties, associated collective excitations and superfluid behaviour.Source
In other words, the collective excitation is quasiparticles. Oh no. Not another big word. Not to worry, they are a just a family of particles with properties that act as one due to how the particles relate with one another. The
superfluid behaviour mentioned above is just fluid with zero friction that is superconductive.
The particle symmetry-breaking properties are just another way of analysing the importance of symmetry and things that break it.
It is all about the molecular arrangement, folks
Back in primary school, we were taught there are four states of matter: solid, liquid, gas and plasma. These are true as we know it then but the whole setup is something to do with how the molecules are arranged. The gases have the least interaction with its molecules compared to solids with the plasma a free soul to do whatever it wanted.
In between these states, there are other states of matter exist such as Bose-Einstein Condensate, electron-degenerate matter found in dwarf stars, and the strange one. Yes, the stranger matter that could be located in our magnetic star friend ( neutron stars). Oh, there is the time crystals.
The time crystal is a hypothetical structure that has a degree of movement at a ground state or lowest energy level. In theory, there should be no movement at this point, due to energy that is required to do that. But our dear friend, the time crystal, defied the odds.
Possible Application
There is a possible application of BECs in observing the quantum effect as a quantum simulator. The observation of massless particles that gained mass is believed to exist but is difficult to observe or hard to create. But with BECs they can now be observed.
For now, given the present capacity of science, a lot of BEC use is majorly limited to research areas in quantum mechanics (quantum physics)..
There is also a possible application in spectroscopy, metrology, and atomic optics applications.
Reference
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This is all about quantum mechanics, you really refresh my memory with some of your new discoveries on the post.
Gracias!
You are right. It is about quantum physics.
great post @greenrun i must commend you for posting this article. you have done a real job and do most of us here good. i must say this i learnt another new thing with your post. well doñe
Thanks for the compliment. Do keep steeming.
Wow! A 5th state of matter called Bose-Einstein Condensation...interesting!
This sounds like the Semi-fluid concept/matter used in the 4th sequel of the Transformers movie; Tranformers: Age of Extinction (2014) where a pen was fluidly changed into a gun, a ball etc. I guess they must indeed have applied the BEC concept to create the visual magnificence they showed us.
Thanks for this. It's been quite an education!
Thanks for this awesome comment.
Yayyy! Glad you like it
its all about molecular arrangements haha this is what my teacher used to say :D ...thanks for sharing this post
I'm happy to take you down that memory lane.
i only knew about the three and now we have more discoveries wow thanks a lot for sharing a detailed post
Thanks blazing.
Very interesting. I never knew there was a fourth state (plasma), let alone a fith state haha.
I guess we live and learn :)
Hi @futurethinker, it's good to see you here.
;)
this is nice. anytime i see a related post on science i always remember my chemistry teacher, he did not teach me well maybe now i would have become a scientist or a doctor but i enjoy what i do as an enginner.
@greenrun this is awesome post teaching in quantum mechanics. thanks buddy
@greenrun the discovery of things in science always gets me like?
@samest, you are still doing ok in what you do. Keep steeming.
Great @greenrun, informative post I guess I am behind in the world of science. That last I checked I remembered it was just three state of matter which is the solid, the liquid and gas but you just got me informed now there is another one which is the plasma and even a newly discovered one, the super solid. Thanks for informative post.
There are even more states of matter but at present let us just stop at 5. Thanks for reading.
really?
Oh yeah.
I would like to know a bit more about this... I'll check it out.
Thanks for sharing, an eye-opener. My first time of hearing about BEC and its application in quantum mechanics. Keep it rolling in. I always get something from reading your posts.
Thanks a lot for reading.
Plasma? I knew just three before now. Now BEC, splendid. Science and new discoveries! I'm tired of them already. Welldone @greenrun
@jeline, physics is a dynamic subject. Also some things taught in the basics are simplified to avoid confusion. The higher you go, the more things broaden. Thanks